Thursday, September 29, 2016

Release Blitz & Review: Neighbors - Stylo Fantome

Things a good neighbor can do for you:

1. Give you a cup of sugar

2. Let you borrow his lawnmower

3. Water your plants while you're on vacation

4. Make your eyes roll back in your head with his tongue

Katya Tocci has never paid much attention to who lives next door - her career always kept her too busy. She's a good girl, working her way to becoming the most sought after cake designer in all of San Francisco.

But even a good girl's gotta cut loose once in a while, right? So one fake dating profile later, and she's ready to tarnish her squeaky clean image. Little does she know, her fun time is closer to home than she ever imagined.

Throw in a neighbor who wants to corrupt her, and another who just wants to own her, and her entire world is flipped upside down.

Katya has always been the good girl. At 23, she's a sought after baker who dresses in pastels and flowy clothing, her sexuality something she's never addressed. After a lot of prodding, and some tweaking on her roommate's part, she finds herself on a dating side with a very misleading bio. Her neighbor, the handsome Liam, seeks a challenge with her when he discovers she's really a prim and proper girl who couldn't possibly be up for kinky sex...until she goes for the win. With one adventurous night behind her, Katya never expected to find herself face to face with her devilishly handsome, childhood neighbor Wulf. What was once a boring life is now filled with two handsome men who want her every fantasy to come true. Katya has no clue how to juggle the opposite men and their smutty ways.Real life reaction when I finished Neighbors: WHAT IN THE WORLD DID I JUST READ AND WHEN CAN I HAVE THE NEXT BOOK?!

"She might have been vanilla a good deal of the time, but there were other times when she wanted to be rainbow sherbet. With sprinkles on top, dammit."

Neighbors is a twisted little story; what seems innocent on the outside is sinfully sexy on the inside and just a bit messed up too. It's not the kind of book you take at face value, because what starts as a 23 year old's endeavor to explore her sexuality soon becomes a web of truths and lies. Katya is the sort of character I struggle with, her personality is all over the place and her innocent ways fall to the wayside so easily. I generally liked her approach to life, to the two men who fit into her world like puzzle pieces, but I couldn't get behind how quickly she developed into this new version of herself. Then there's Liam and Wulf, two opposites who find themselves joining Katya's journey of self exploration. I adored Liam, I want Liam for myself, but Wulfric sort of makes me gag...but in the way where I want to keep reading about him, because I can't get enough. Does that make sense? He's alpha to the core; a quiet, fierce, demanding, brooding type that Katya can't get enough of. While Liam's joining Katya for some serious bonding over drinks, Wulf brings out the young girl inside of Katya who once had a crush on him. The love triangle between these three is different though, as both men are in on Katya's time spent with the other. Katya's interactions with the men are intense, at times it felt like fleeting flings and at other times a monumental affair that would leave her changed.

”Alright, angel cake. Let’s see how far you’ll take this cute little act.”

Then there's the twists, because there's always a twist when it comes to a Stylo Fantome novel. I had a sneaking suspicion about this one, the hints are all there, but like it was for Katya, it's a shock when the reader is let in on the secrets. As the characters feelings grow beyond hooking up the story starts to unravel...literally. I loved how easy it was to get into this story, Stylo always writes dark characters that you can't help but want to love, that you want to stick with to the very end and Neighbors was no different. While the story line is one I can't relate to, I could see how Katya got herself into the mess and let me tell you...I can't see how she's going to get out of it. Neighbors is emotional, a little bit sweet and a little bit sour...and a whole lot sexy. I'm serious, this is the kind of book you read by yourself, because it's hot hot hot. I was hooked from page one, unable to put it down, because I wanted to know what happened next with the two handsome men. Then there's the ending, it will leave you shocked, possibly yelling (like me), maybe angry, but absolutely desperate for more.

"Looks like little Katya Tocci finally grew up."

I want to know if you're #TeamWulf or #TeamLiam if you read it! I think I'm #teamLiam...think being the key word.

Crazy woman from a remote location in Alaska (where the need for a creative mind is a necessity!), I have been writing since ... forever? Yeah, that sounds about right. I have been told that I remind people of Lucille Ball - I also see shades of Jennifer Saunders, and Denis Leary. So basically, I laugh a lot, I'm clumsy a lot, and I say the F-word A LOT.

I like dogs more than I like most people, and I don't trust anyone who doesn't drink. No, I do not live in an igloo, and no, the sun does not set for six months out of the year, there's your Alaska lesson for the day. I have mermaid hair - both a curse and a blessing - and most of the time I talk so fast, even I can't understand me.